Calico Mountain Horses

****UPDATES BELOW!!!!****

The Calico Mountains are located in Nevada, USA. This page features pictures, info and such about the Calico Mountain Wild Horses.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has decided that the Calico Mountains are overpopulated by wild horses, and they decided to herd the wild horses down the mountains (about 2,000 of these horses) with a loud, noisy, and scary (to the horses) helicopter. BLM claims that this roundup prevented an 'emergency roundup' later this summer - they claim that it is inevitable that there will be a roundup of the Calico horses. So - they must have thought - why not do the roundup now rather than later?

According to BLM's records, there are now only about 600 Calico horses left in the Mountains! This is within the set capacity of 600 to 800 horses/burros. BLM will take 'stock' records later this spring, to catalogue the number of wild horses, and the number of each gender, etc. The horses were moved to the Indian Lakes Road Short-Term  holding facility in Fallon, Nevada until they could be placed up for adoption by the BLM's adoption program or they could be moved into long-term holding pastures. Each pen at the Fallon facility has 100 horses in it, and is 70,000 square feet.

HOPE FOR THE HORSES - A SHORT STORY

On Saturday, January 2nd, during the gather in the Calico Mountains, a black stallion was gathered. This stallion was brought into the temporary holding corrals. The stallion, however, jumped over the corral panel and ran through a fence made of barbed wire, running back onto BLM-regulated public lands. The stallion did not look injured from the fence or the jump over the fence, since he galloped away. Those against wild horse gathers named the horse "Freedom". There are more than 20 black stallions at the Fallon facility with markings that are similar to Freedom's.

****UPDATE!!****

The Calico Mountain roundup (a continuation of the first one) that was scheduled for February, 2010, has been delayed. According to BLM, the delay was due to spring foaling season. But do we trust the BLM? Some people who are against wild horse roundups say that their protests are what delayed the roundup. Well, I just got some more information about another part of the roundup, part of it that happened before the continuation was delayed - this information is from the first part of the roundup, in December.

This time, two helicopters rounded up these horses. Not a big deal - just one more helicopter - except for the fact that some horses were left in the round-up pens overnight. Did they get hay or some type of food? Yes. Did they get water or some liquid into their body? No. WHAT THE HECK?!?! I am wondering what the heck is wrong with giving these animals water, when BLM is letting them have hay. According to an on-site source, Sue Cattor, said that research says that horses can go 24 hours with no food or water and have no negative side effects. UH, NO!

Think about this: the last time these horses had a drink was sometime before the helicopters started rounding up. It took 1-2+ hours to round up all of the horses. These horses could've been driven across 20-30+ miles of land, at a high speed. So, they burned calories and 'fuel' fast; by the time they reached the holding chute and pen, they must've been breathing crazily fast. During the Pryor Mountain Roundup (that was a while ago, in another mountain range), the horses' respiration rate - when taken a full 35 minutes after they were caught - was 135 rpm (respirations per minute). The horse's normal respiration per minute is 8 to 20 respirations per minute. And these horses from the Calico Mountains weren't allowed to have water? What would happen if these horses suffered from dehydration? What about the foals?

Consider this: When these horses were taken to the Fallon, Nevada holding facility, there were horses reported to have been 'found dead' every day. Commonly, the vet tells BLM & the public that the deaths were due to 'failure to adjust to dietary change.' In other words, the veterinarian basically said that most of the horses died due to colic, which is when horses can't handle different foods or when their intestines/stomach twist and cannot right themselves. Imagine your dog - or anyone's dog, really - has just run for 2 hours straight. What would happen if you didn't give that dog water and gave it food it'd never eaten before? It probably wouldn't or couldn't adjust to the new food, right? And it would pass out from dehydration, right? Or maybe even die? It's the same situation with horses, folks.

Guys, this is animal cruelty and neglect. If we were talking about dogs or cats or even birds, there would be huge, traumatic protests with people screaming things about cruelty and how it should be stopped. Why is it a different situation with horses?

I have a few stories to share about the Calico Roundup(s).

STORY ONE: There was a small family of horses - just a stallion, a few mares, and a few foals - that was rounded up. One mare had a foal; the foal was a colt, and was black as night. The stallion and the mare both were loaded onto trailers and hauled away to holding facilities before the colt, and so was the rest of the colt's band. The colt called out frantically, searching for its family. Youtube Video Of The Action:



As you can see, the colt was finally loaded onto a trailer - an empty one. We can only hope that the colt will see his mother and father again sometime. Don't get your hopes up too high, though. ='(

STORY TWO: According to the BLM website, there was a horse that was kicked in the eye in the trailer on the way to the temporary holding facility. The horse was euthanized at the holding facility. This horse's death just adds to the many that have been accounted for during this roundup ordeal.

That's all the updates for now! Last Update: 2/25/10

****MORE INFO TO COME****